Stonehenge

Man, had this place changed since I last visited in 2005! Really. It has changed. When I visited on the "Tens Days in Europe on Three Pair of Underwear and Two Adult Children" Trip, the tour van we rode dropped us at a small building, with maybe a bathroom, and a very poor excuse for a gift shop. We walked around the stones, I suppose listening to the info, but maybe reading it on markers. We took the photos and marveled at how those huge heavy stones were brought and placed. Stonehenge is in the middle of a pasture. As a recently retired teacher I was disappointed at the lack of educational materials available for local school children and for visitors. The English were missing a HUGE market.

Well, that has all changed in the last 11 years. Our tour bus, BIG tour bus, was one of 5 in the large group parking area. We walked down the hill to the Visitor's Center and boarded a shuttle bus which took us down the lane to where the tour used to start. We had our handy-dandy hand-held tour devices and off we went to learn about this ancient temple.

the pasture

sheep grazing and resting

the Stonehenge sheep

crow resting on a lintel

someone offered to take our photo

yes, it was windy and rather chilly in the pasture

one of many burial mounds

explanation of burial mound

it is very awesome

this is NOT the only circle of large stones in this part of England,

but it is the 'famous' one

we did our work, answering questions and 

taking a photo for the geocache

With the addition of the Visitor's Center (gift shop, cafe, exhibition, modern restrooms) there is an interactive area for children. I was very excited to see they have capitalized on the educational aspect of this English Heritage site.

huts the Stonehenge builders 'may' have used

the size of one stone

would take 100 people to move it

a little village of Neolithic houses

the new Visitor's Center

exhibition hall and bathrooms on the right

cafe and picnic area on the left

gift shop also on this side, in the front 

an AWESOME gift shop

and an AWESOME cafe

we had pasties & soup

my selfie

I'm getting better...

I am not able to "get to" my photos from the 2005 visit. It would be fun to compare the photos of the two trips. No history or educational lesson today. If you want to know more about this ancient temple, you can google Stonehenge and read the how and why about the circle of stones. And if you ever visit...try the pasties. YUM!